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Connecteam Review and Pricing
Table of Contents
- Managers can utilize Connecteam's geofencing and GPS geolocation tracking features to ensure that frontline workers are clocking in and out at their designated locations.
- The user-friendly interface lets managers easily monitor employee absences and clocked-in locations from afar.
- The free Small Business Plan includes access to Connecteam's hubs for Operations, Communications and HR & Skills.
- Connecteam's Basic and Advanced plans don't include the breadcrumbs functionality; this feature allows employers to track employee locations while they're clocked in.
- The pricing and plan structure can be somewhat confusing for first-time buyers.
- HIPAA-registered accounts incur additional fees.
Managing frontline workers presents unique challenges, especially for tracking time and attendance. With the growing popularity of mobile workforces, it’s crucial to have reliable, user-friendly software that keeps operations — including timekeeping — smooth and efficient. Connecteam, a mobile-first workforce management app, stands out as an ideal choice for small businesses. Based on our firsthand testing, Connecteam is the best time and attendance service and employee scheduling software for frontline workers. These honors are thanks largely to features that keep teams connected wherever they are.
Connecteam Editor's Rating:
9.5 / 10
- Price/value
- 9.4/10
- Features
- 9.4/10
- Customizations, add-ons and integrations
- 9.3/10
- Ease of use
- 9.5/10
- Customer support
- 9.7/10
Why We Chose Connecteam for Frontline Workers
Connecteam stands out as the best time and attendance software for businesses with frontline workers. This prestige is due to its robust and mobile-first design, comprehensive features, and exceptional ease of use. The platform’s geofencing and GPS geolocation tracking features ensure that employees clock in and out via the app at their designated locations. This practice is essential for managing a mobile workforce. Beyond time tracking, wherever your employees are in the field, they can remain connected with you and co-workers via Connecteam’s communication tools (i.e., personal and group chats, media and file attachments, centralized company feed, surveys, and polls).
During our testing, we found that the system’s user-friendly interface allows managers to easily and efficiently monitor employee absences and locations. We especially love that the free Small Business Plan provides access to Connecteam’s Operations, Communications and HR & Skills hubs. These features make it an excellent value for small businesses.
Connecteam offers a broad range of workforce management features for frontline workers. Source: Connecteam
Ease of Use
When testing the Connecteam software, we were especially pleased with how easy it is to navigate the platform. For example, since this is a mobile-first product with iOS and Android apps, employees can access schedules, tasks and communication tools on the go. Unlike some competitors, Connecteam’s mobile apps are highly rated in the app stores. With thousands of reviews, they’ve received 4.8 out of 5 stars on Google Play and 4.9 out of 5 stars in the Apple app store.
We like how user-friendly the program is, even for those who aren’t the most tech-savvy. Because of the intuitive design, many users report that minimal training is needed for employees to get up and running with Connecteam; this was our experience as well.
Features
Connecteam has several basic and advanced features for employers and employees to communicate and carry out standard workforce operations, including time tracking. Here are some of the features that make this software especially valuable to companies with frontline workers.
Time Tracking
When we tested the Connecteam platform, we liked that it has several employee self-service features for time and attendance. We also liked how it boasts admin tools to help managers monitor how many hours their frontline employees work. For example, team members can clock in and out from their mobile devices, track custom jobs and subjobs, and view and edit their time sheets.
As an administrator, you can access mobile admin capabilities, export time sheets and modify approvals. You can also lock employee time sheets, view clock-in and -out locations on a map, and automatically clock out users when they reach daily limits. The ability to do all of this from a phone or tablet is ideal for companies centered around distributed field workers.
Connecteam’s mobile-focused time-tracking tools make it easy to manage employees’ time. Source: Connecteam
If your employees frequently forget to track their hours, Connecteam can help with that. We especially like the notification feature, which automatically sends push notifications to workers to remind them to clock in and out. The app can also notify team members when they’re reaching their daily work limits. These features are competitive with those in other timekeeping software we reviewed.
Employee Scheduling
Connecteam’s employee scheduling features are highly competitive with those offered by rival time and attendance platforms we analyzed. Each free and paid package includes several features that enable you to plan and manage employee schedules. For instance, managers can create schedules with an unlimited number of jobs and subjobs, allow employees to claim open shifts, and track employees’ in-shift statuses.
We were pleased to see other useful tools, too. Such additional features include schedule searching and exporting, scheduling filters, shift replacements, reverse actions, permission settings, shift grouping, and shift templates. We were also impressed by the program’s limitation settings, which allow managers to limit the number of hours or shifts each person can work. This is beneficial for employers whose frontline workers need to stay within overtime guidelines.
Employees and admins can access a variety of useful scheduling features within the Connecteam app. Source: Connecteam
Geolocation Services
Connecteam uses geolocation specifically for its time clock functionality. When an employee clocks in or out, the app can capture their location through the device’s GPS. This can help verify that team members are clocking in and out from an authorized area, such as their assigned worksite.
The geolocation tools can also track employees’ work locations throughout the day, especially for field workers. Some of Connecteam’s plans even include a breadcrumbs feature — as mentioned above — for this purpose; it captures live location data at different intervals while the employee is clocked in. We found this especially valuable for keeping an eye on frontline workers who are working solo.
Connecteam’s GPS tracking features are valuable for ensuring that your mobile workers are at the right locations when they’re clocked in. Source: Connecteam
Internal Communication
Unlike many time and attendance solutions we investigated, Connecteam has an entire hub dedicated to employee communication; we love that there are many tools to keep frontline workers connected while they’re in the field. For example, they can access a team chat to share images, videos, files, PDFs, GIFs and locations. You can pin important conversations to the top for easy on-the-go access, schedule messages to send during work hours and create shortcuts to link employees to another feature within the app.
Because Connecteam focuses on keeping teams connected, it also has organizational charts and directories; features for facilitating surveys, events, updates and announcements; and a knowledge base. Not all competitors offer these functions, but they can be worthwhile for keeping frontline workers connected.
With Connecteam’s organizational directory, workers can quickly contact each other from any location. Source: Connecteam
Pricing
Connecteam offers three distinct hubs: Operations, Communications and HR & Skills. Each one is priced similarly but includes unique features. Within each hub, Connecteam sells five tiered plans: Small Business, Basic, Advanced, Expert and Enterprise. Employers can sign up for one, two, or all three hubs. Plus, they can choose any combination of hubs and plans (e.g., Basic Operations with Advanced Communications and Expert HR & Skills).
This plan structure can be somewhat confusing for first-time buyers. So, we recommend contacting a Connecteam representative if you need help choosing the right combination of plans. If you are seeking time tracking and employee scheduling features specifically, the Operations hub is your best bet. However, the Communications and HR & Skills plans also have valuable features for frontline workers.
Although some competitors charge per employee, Connecteam’s packages have one flat rate for the first 30 users. We found this to be advantageous for small, growing companies that want to control their monthly costs. After your first 30 employees, Connecteam charges a small additional fee per user. We were happy to see that the vendor also has a free plan for up to 10 users, as well as a 14-day free trial.
Here’s a general breakdown of Connecteam’s Operations plans.
Operations Plans | Cost | Standout Features |
|---|---|---|
Small Business Plan | Free (up to 10 users) | One time clock, unlimited custom jobs and subjobs, payroll integration, unlimited geofencing and shift attachments, a single schedule, open shift claiming and approval, in-shift status, unlimited shift tasks, reversed actions, repeating shifts, bulk actions, templates, forms and task management |
Basic | $29 per month for the first 30 users and 50 cents per month for each additional user (paid annually); $35 per month for the first 30 users and 60 cents per month for each additional user (paid monthly) | One time clock, unlimited custom jobs, payroll integration, a single schedule, open shift claiming, in-shift status, one in-shift task per shift, reversed actions, forms and task management |
Advanced | $49 per month for the first 30 users and $1.50 per month for each additional user (paid annually); $59 per month for the first 30 users and $1.80 per month for each additional user (paid monthly) | Everything in the Basic plan, plus up to three time clocks, up to three subjobs, geofencing, up to two shift attachments, up to six schedules, up to five in-shift tasks per shift, repeating shifts, bulk actions and templates |
Expert | $99 per month for the first 30 users and $3 per month for each additional user (paid annually); $119 per month for the first 30 users and $3.60 per month for each additional user (paid monthly) | Everything in the Advanced plan, plus up to six time clocks, unlimited subjobs and shift attachments, up to 12 schedules, unlimited in-shift tasks and schedule limitation settings |
Enterprise | Custom pricing | Everything in the Expert plan, plus unlimited time clocks and schedules, unlimited auto-reports and data layers, unlimited schedule shareable links, single sign-on (SSO), two-factor authentication (2FA), biometric app lock, full API access and a personal success manager |
Implementation/Onboarding
Getting started with Connecteam is simple. Some vendors make you contact them for a custom quote before you can begin using their software. But, Connecteam lists pricing for each plan on its website (excluding its custom-priced Enterprise offering). Plus, it grants instant access. You can easily sign up for the free Small Business Plan for up to 10 users or the 14-day free trial to get started. Both options give you the flexibility to test the software risk-free.
When we went through the implementation process, we liked how easy it is to get the software up and running. All we had to do was sign up online, and then it took only minutes to begin using the various features. You’ll start with a view of the dashboard; then you’ll follow the on-screen tutorial to activate the different tools, including the time clock and job scheduler.
Customer Support
We were glad to see that Connecteam provides helpful customer support. For many users, the self-service Help Center is a great first stop for troubleshooting issues. We like that you can search for specific keywords or browse by category to find the information you need. You can also access comprehensive online resources, like blog posts, guides, e-books, an HR glossary, a template directory and a marketplace.
If you can’t find what you’re looking for in the Help Center, you can contact Connecteam’s support line directly through the chat feature within your Connecteam dashboard. This is a good option for getting live help with specific tasks or troubleshooting issues, especially as the company promises to respond in less than five minutes. You can also email the vendor for assistance.
Limitations
The Connecteam platform integrates with some of the best payroll services and accounting software. However, its native integrations are more limited than other options we reviewed. This can lead to data silos and manual workarounds.
However, all packages except the Basic plan integrate with Zapier, a service that enables you to connect web apps. This means that, through Zapier, Connecteam could potentially integrate with many other applications, though the specific number depends on what Zapier supports. If third-party integrations are particularly important to you, check out our review of TimeClock Plus, which supports hundreds of third-party integrations.
Another potential drawback is Connecteam’s pricing and package structure. The company offers tiered plans, but some users find them confusing — particularly for smaller teams. If it’s unclear from the website what plan will be the best for your team, we recommend contacting Connecteam directly for guidance. If you want to compare pricing with another timekeeping solution that’s great for mobile workforces, check out our review of QuickBooks Time.
Methodology
When investigating the top time and attendance solutions on the market, we watched product videos, participated in demos and used free trials to test the platforms. We considered the hardware, usability, price, setup process, mobile access, integrations and features of each software option. We paid close attention to time-tracking tools, time-off-management abilities, and GPS and geolocation functionality. We also took note of payroll integrations, reports, job tracking, and notifications and alerts.
How did we find the best system for frontline workers specifically? We looked for the solution with the most comprehensive, mobile-driven time-tracking capabilities; employee scheduling; geolocation services; and communication features to help companies manage workers in the field.
FAQs
Bottom Line
We recommend Connecteam for …
- Companies with frontline workers.
- Businesses that want a mobile-first way to track time and attendance.
- Organizations that need to track employees’ locations when they clock in and out.
We don’t recommend Connecteam for …
- Companies that want to access their time and attendance software primarily on a desktop computer instead of a mobile device.
- Organizations that are looking for a free plan for more than 10 employees.
- Businesses that need highly advanced reporting features.